NJ toll collectors raising cash for fight

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Toll collectors in New Jersey are asking for money to keep their jobs.

Members of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Union Local 194 held a fundraiser in Trenton on Thursday. The local is collecting cash to fight against proposals to privatize toll collections and increase automation of toll collections on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which operates both toll roads, said last year it would seek proposals to privatize E-ZPass and cash toll collections in 2016. The agency made the announcement while it sought more concessions from the union.

The agency in 2011 reached a two-year contract in which the union accepted wage and benefits concessions to delay the prospect of privatization.